Return to Altomare
by AnimeCookie93
Summary: It's been 9 years since the events in Movie 5. Now, Ash decides on a whim to visit the place that held so many fragile memories. Little did he know the goings on... Major pairing: Friendship!Ash/Latias, minor pairing Brock/Misty and others.


**Return to Altomare**

_AnimeCookie93_

Prologue-

_A girl with soft brown hair ran through the streets of newly-restored Altomare, her peach dress flowing behind her as a gust of wind pushed her back. Someone – or something – was telling her to keep away, but… but she had people to protect; her foster father, foster sister, and…_

_"Chaaaaaaar!" the loud roar echoed through the streets and the girl let out a silent scream. The fear locked her body as she spun around an alleyway, ducking behind a dumpster. "Raaaaaaaa!" she covered her ears, her entire body trembling as large wings pushed a large gust of wind into the alley, knocking her over. She hadn't the strength to move from her spot, even as a plump old man ran to her aid. He called to her, but all she did was lie there._

_It wasn't like the terror that made her body tremble would let her do anything else, anyway._

**-x-**

"Pikachu, I'm back!"

Ash Ketchum, nineteen, called into his Cherrygrove City apartment. It was small but functional; he entered into the kitchen-slash-dining room, decorated with shiny oak and white appliances. The countertops were granite, not the best part of the apartment, but he made do with it by covering it with small appliances like a coffee maker, a blender, and a mixer – none of which he used regularly and were given to him by his mother when he left home to stay in the Johto region. Not that he complained; free stuff!

He closed the door behind him, and as he did so was greeted by his lifelong friend and partner, Pikachu. Unlike any other trainer, Ash gave his most trusted friend an Everstone, which kept it from evolving. He preferred it that way, in fact; had Pikachu transformed, he'd never survive that Thunder Shock. (Considering he gets it almost every single time he makes a horrible joke – which was very common – or he was ordered to during the occasional battle.)

The yellow mouse Pokemon squealed in welcome and Ash rubbed the head of his friend as it jumped down and scurried into the kitchen to munch on its food. As Ash discarded his coat and sneakers in their respective places, a faint smile graced his face as he remembered just where he had gotten the food; Brock had stopped by a couple of months back with a few bags of Pokemon food of his own creation, knowing Ash would be keeping his Pokemon as companions when all was said and done. And he was pleased to meet the lecherous breeder's girlfriend of two years, Misty of Cerulean City.

Of course, they resided in Misty's hometown as she was the Gym Leader. 1

"I see you're enjoying that food, huh Pikachu?" Ash's voice had deepened, but not by much unfortunately.

_Yes! _"Pika!"

"We've got plenty more where that came from. Three more large bags."

"Pi!"

Ash grinned and walked over to the telephone hanging up by the side of the fridge. A digital '1' flashed before it, and he jumped upon hearing a beep reverberate from the wall right into her ears. He picked up his telephone and looked through the Caller's ID: **Ketchum, Delia**; **Oak, Professor**; **Pewter City Gym.**

_How weird_ Ash thought; it wasn't weird that his mother called him, nor Professor Oak. It was Pewter City that was strange. "Maybe Brock and Misty are back from Cerulean City."

Pikachu disappeared into the bedroom while Ash pressed the appropriate keys to check his voicemail. The cheery voice of an older Misty rang through the close-to-empty apartment.

"Hi, Ash! It's Misty. And Brock, but he's out getting stuff for… stuff. Anyway, we were wondering what's been keeping you away from us! I mean, a whole league away and you can't visit? The nerve, Ketchum!..." she nagged him for minutes more before the point of the message was revealed, "…and, also, we were wondering if you've been okay lately. Brock has had this sinking feeling and we decided it would be a good idea to come and see you. We'll be there by Friday – (Ash checked the calendar conveniently placed beside the phone and circled that Friday, which was tomorrow, and internally griped that it wasn't enough time to set up their room) – and all that. So, um, goodbye!"

Ash felt like he was back in grammar school, where the teacher would drone _on_ and _on_ about _no one cared what_. Ugh. He hung up the phone, glared at the calendar while cursing its stupidity, and went to find Pikachu. "Hey, Pikachu! Guess who's coming to visit!"

Just then, the sound of paper crumpling and the pitter-patter of little mouse feet sounded in the near-silent apartment and Pikachu jumped into Ash's open arms with a piece of pad paper in his mouth. The Pokemon held it in its paws and Ash opened it. His features softened…

_"Hey, driver, can you pull over for a second?"_

_Ten year old Ash leaped from the small ferry when the driver pulled beside a dock, and in front of him panted a petite brunette with soft-as-satin skin. He spared her a small grin as they met eye contact, which was broken with the girl held out a rolled up piece of paper._

_When he opened it, a light smile graced the boy's features, and he thanked her warmly before she closed the gap between them by placing a soft kiss on his cheek. Frozen with confusion, Ash stared at her shoulder as if watching a Gym battle, and gave her a small grin as he jumped back onto the boat, stuffing the picture in his pocket._

_Needless to say, Ash had bragging rights for weeks over Brock, who wept his misfortune over Ash's "first kiss"._

The nineteen year old stared at the expertly drawn self-portrait of himself and Pikachu, both grinning, with the yellow mouse creature on his shoulder and found himself wondering what it would be like to see Bianca and Lorenzo again after nine years. No doubt Altomare had fixed itself up after the accident with the two young women nearly destroying the town. He wondered also if Bianca still held onto Latias, the same one he'd fought alongside and gotten close to… he put the sketch pad under his arm as he – carefully, as Pikachu was still on his shoulder – went into his kitchen to the telephone. No doubt Misty was driving, so Brock would be in charge of phone calls…

"Maybe…" Ash began, Pikachu jumping off of his shoulder and onto the counter, cocking it's head to the side as its trainer dialed a combination into his telephone and held it to his ear. "…a trip to Altomare would be a change of pace. What do you think, Pikachu?"

_Are you sure? _"Pika, pi?"

"Yeah. You think-?"

_I don't know. _"Pika…"

The tone rang and black eyes looked at the calendar; the ferry left between 4 and 6 in the evenings, he inwardly thought as he glanced at the stove's digital clock. _5:40PM. Too late. Maybe tomorrow morning._

_"Hello?"_ Brock's voice answered a bit sleepily; Ash could care less if he woke his friend from his nap.

"Brock! It's Ash. Hey, whaddaya say about making a trip to Altomare tomorrow morning?"

_"Ah… you've been thinking about her, haven't you?" _Ash said nothing and did his best to hide his pinking cheeks from his partner, who didn't fail to notice and flashed a cute grin. _"Alright. We'll have to stop the Mart to pick up some warmer clothes; I heard it rains around this time of year."_

"Yeah…" Ash wasn't sure whether or not he was reacting to the valid point or if he was answering the man's earlier question. "Okay. We'll leave at 8 o'clock tomorrow for the 8:15 ferry. See you soon!"

_"Okay, Ash. Good b— 'HI ASH!' …uh, Misty says hello. Alright, we'll meet you at the docks."_

Ash nodded and hung up his telephone, glancing at the door as if expecting something to stop him. No sign came, and he found himself feeling a bit smug as he went to the fridge and pulled out a Cola, opening it with a '_Pss!_' before headed into his bedroom to begin packing for the two-day ferry ride.

* * *

><p><em>Ooh, lookie what I've done~ I'm so new to this fandom, at least writing-wise. I've watched the earlier seasons and stopped after the Johto adventures, I think.<em>

_I did a bit of research with this one, something I seldom do with my stories; instead of just winging it, I 'Googled' a map of the Johto region only to learn that Altomare is an island off of the coast of Cherrygrove City. So, I took that to heart and am now going to use my knowledge of Movie 5 to write this soon-to-be train wreck._

_...I guess that's for you guys to decide._

**Disclaimer: **Pff. Do I look like I own Pokemon? Obviously not. I'd have given it an actual ENDING instead of it just rambling on about new Pokemon.

_Please review. If you do, I may make this a Work-in-Progress. Or, WIP. If not, updates will be very, VERY rare. I've got a lot to do nowadays._

_~Cookie_


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